Role Prompting
Assigning a specific role to the AI helps it understand the context and perspective from which to respond.
Weak Prompt:
"Explain photosynthesis"
Strong Prompt:
"As a biology teacher, explain photosynthesis to 8th grade students in simple terms with examples"
Goal + Constraints
Clearly defining what you want and setting boundaries helps the AI produce more focused and useful responses.
Weak Prompt:
"Write about climate change"
Strong Prompt:
"Goal: Write a 300-word article about climate change for a general audience. Constraints: Focus on solutions, avoid technical jargon, include 3 actionable steps"
Stepwise Thinking
Breaking complex tasks into sequential steps helps the AI organize its thinking and produce more structured responses.
Weak Prompt:
"Plan a marketing campaign"
Strong Prompt:
"Step 1: Identify target audience for eco-friendly water bottles. Step 2: List 3 key messaging points. Step 3: Suggest 2 social media platforms. Step 4: Create sample post for each platform"
Example-Driven Prompts
Providing examples helps the AI understand the desired format, style, and level of detail for its response.
Weak Prompt:
"Write a product description"
Strong Prompt:
"Write a product description like this example: 'Revolutionary wireless earbuds with 30hr battery life. Crystal-clear sound with noise cancellation. Sweat-resistant for workouts. $129.99' - Now describe a smart water bottle that tracks hydration"
Tool-Aware Formatting
Specifying output formats that work well with tools helps automate workflows and integrate with other systems.
Weak Prompt:
"List project tasks"
Strong Prompt:
"Create a JSON array of project tasks for a website redesign. Include keys: id, title, priority (high/medium/low), deadline (YYYY-MM-DD). Limit to 5 tasks."